Your lab report is worth a total of 80 points. Here is a general guide as to how these 80 points will be distributed in Fall 2005. Title Page with Abstract: ~5 points Are your lab partners listed? Does the abstract adequately describe the experiment and the major result(s) in a concise manner? Introduction, Equipment List, and Procedure: ~0-3 points This is mostly a repeat of material already in the lab description. Unless your TA specifically asks you to include these topics in your report for a particular lab (this would occur only if all 10 lab sections were asked to include these three topics), they may be omitted (except in the rare case that your procedure differs from the procedure outlined in the lab description). If you are asked to include these topics, be as brief as possible. The Introduction should essentially be a summary of any equations that you will be using (even in a word processed report you may choose to handwrite equations), and the Procedure should be written with the least number of words required for the reader of your report to confidently repeat your measurements. Results and Analysis: ~50-60 points This section presents your data and your calculations. You do not need to recopy your data, but you do need to give directions to your reader so that all data can easily be found. All of the pages in your lab report should be numbered, and directions to relevant data should include the page number and, in some manner, location on the page. For example, suppose you have three sets of data on page 5 of your report, where page 5 is one of your signed data sheets; you might label these 5A, 5B, and 5C, and refer to them as such in this section of your report. The presentation of your calculations is the critical section of your lab report. This section in particular may be awkward to word process; but, if handwritten, it must be neat and readable (it must contain COMPLETE SENTENCES). If your analysis includes calculated columns in GA, then one example of each such calculation must be included here. In addition, all error propagations must be shown carefully in this section. It is possible to have some calculations on your signed data sheets; however, if so, they must be neat and readable, and you must give adequate directions to your reader so that those calculations can easily be found. In general, error handling will be worth ~6-12 of these 50-60 points; however, the actual value may be more or less; for example, in a few labs, you may be asked to ignore errors or to handle errors qualitatively, in which case errors would be reduced in significance (again, this would only be true either for all 10 lab sections or for none). Failure to include units will in general be a deduction of 4 points for each occurrence, up to a maximum of about 12 points. Use of an improper number of significant figures will in general be a deduction of 2 points for each occurrence, up to a maximum of about 8 points. Failure to label axes of graphs or columns of data tables will in general be a deduction of 4 points for each occurrence, up to a maximum of about 12 points. What is to be done if a particular three-member lab group follows the wrong procedure, and thus gets data that is radically different from the data expected for the lab? Such situations must be treated on a case-by- case basis, but a general rule is that the data and the interpretation of the data must be physically reasonable. No points will be given for data or interpretations that are physically outrageous. Discussion and Conclusions: ~15-25 points You may combine these two sections unless specifically directed not to do so for a particular lab (such an instruction would be given to all 10 sections or none). The quality of your writing is most important for this section. ALL of your results are summarized here. This is not the place to show calculations, but it is the place to present the final results of your calculations; that is, the numbers are repeated here -- do not simply give directions as to where the numbers can be found. ALL comparisons requested in the lab description should be made here. ALL questions asked in the lab description should be answered or discussed here. Be sure to use separate paragraphs for the separate sections of the lab. If you are asked to separate these two sections, then the Conclusion is similar to the Abstract -- a concise summary of what was done along with the major results. DISCLAIMER: This page is only a general guideline for the distribution of points. For example, in some labs, the calculations may be very simple, in which case the Discussion and Conclusion section would be increased in significance.